Changes
by imissbuffy
Summary: Something to take our minds off of the fact that The Reckoning doesn't come out until May, 2010. Romance with Derek and Chloe
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own the characters, they are the property of Kelley Armstrong. I'm just playing with them for awhile.**

_They were getting closer. I could hear them running through the woods after me. I was tempted to spare a glance behind me, but knew that was pointless. If I was already running as fast as I could, then nothing I would see behind me would make me run any faster. That was the theory anyway. Never saw the point in putting it to the test. I mean, in every movie I have seen where the girl is getting chased in the woods, she's usually ok until she looks back. Then she usually trips over a tree root, or falls into a bear pit. So, no looking back for Chloe. But even if I couldn't see behind me, I could hear. What I heard wasn't good. I had started off with a good lead on them, but they must have just been pacing themselves, waiting for me to tire. I had used up most of my energy in the initial panic-induced bolt, and now I was very much feeling the fact that we had been running for at least a mile now. _

_Oh, who was I kidding? I couldn't outrun them. I was being chased by werewolves, and from what Derek told me, I would have to be an Olympic rated long-distance sprinter for even half a chance. _

_They were definitely going to catch me, and there was nothing I could do about it. It was too dark to look for a weapon, and even if I could find one, it wouldn't matter. They were faster. Stronger. And I had fallen right into their hands. _

_One of them was running beside me, a huge smirk on his face. _

"_You can slow down now, little girl, we ain't gonna hurt ya," He leered at me. Yea, right._

_I choked back a scream. I needed to save my air for running. _

_The other was gone. I couldn't hear or see him, but that didn't mean he wasn't close by. Probably looping around to head me off at the end of the trail. This trail had to end sometime, I mean, we were in a state park. How big could it be? _

"The Adirondack State Park has over six point one million acres, making it the largest state park in the country," _I recalled what Derek had told me earlier. The image of a never-ending forest flashed in my head. Oh why did decide to go swimming in the river alone? Yes, it was hot. Yes, the river was cool. But that's no excuse for this amount of stupidity. Derek was right. I really did need to start listening to him more. I made a silent promise that if I got out of this, I would NEVER ignore Derek's perfectly reasonable warnings again. _

_Silence. All I could hear now was my breathing and the sounds I was making clumsily crashing through the trees. Maybe they were Changing shapes._

_I looked back. The bigger one was only two feet behind me, looking like he was having the time of his life. Which, he probably was._

_I got tackled from the side. As I fell, I tried to twist out of his grasp, but he was too strong. Then I did scream. Or tried to anyway. As I sucked in a lungful of air, he punched me in the stomach and all the air was knocked out of my body. _

"_Scream as loud as you want, Cutie. Ain't no one gonna hear you out here. Remember, you sent your boyfriend away… And he ain't coming back for you this time. You done made sure off that. It was pretty fun for us to watch. Especially when you were splashing around in that river." He said all of this with his face only two inches from mine. His breath was foul and putrid, and the look on his face was sending shockwaves of terror through me. _

_My whole body was shaking. I was trying as hard as I could not to panic, to stay in control, but there was nothing I could do. I was just a passenger, along for the ride. _

_He had his knife out, and placed it almost tenderly against my cheek. _

"_Now, we're gonna have some fun, little girl. And remember, you can scream all you want, and believe me, you will scream-"_

"_That's right, girl you gonna scream good for us," Ramon cut in._

"_Shut up. I'm trying to have a moment with this pretty little thing here, and you just keep interrupting. Are you trying to ruin the atmosphere? You know these kind of things have to go just right." He turned back to me. "Now, where were we?" He pressed the knife in harder. _

"_Wh-wh-why are you doing this to me?" The words escaped involuntarily._

"_Oh, you hear that Ramon? She wants to know why we are doing this to her!" Liam laughed. "That is just so cute! You think we actually need a reason? Listen to this girl Ramon, she thinks we need a reason. How's this for a reason. Because we can. Because if you and your stupid little mutt boyfriend hadn't crossed us, we wouldn't have gotten caught. Do you know what that psycho from the Pack did to us? He fucked up our hands real good. And now we're gonna do the same to you. And then some. After of course we get a little taste of what your boy's been having. Ramon, why don't you grab her arms?" _

_As Ramon grabbed my arms, Liam tore my shorts down. I started struggling, trying to get away, no matter how fruitless the effort was. Every time I moved, I felt the knife dig in deeper. Then I heard the sound that I had been dreading; the sound that made me feel like I hadn't even known what terror was. A zipper being pulled down._

_Before I was even really all the way aware of it, the scream started._

_"DEREK!"_

I bolted upright in bed. I was drenched in sweat, gasping for breath. Tried to remember what I was dreaming about.

Chloe. My dream. Bits and pieces of the dream surfaced, and I repressed a shudder. Chloe running for her life, Chloe sobbing in terror. Chloe screaming my name as he...

I had to calm down. My heart was pounding so hard, and it felt like I had fire running through my veins along with my blood. It took every ounce of self-control I had not to bellow in rage and punch a hole in the wall. I took a few deep breaths, and glanced over at Simon, who was snoring like a freight train, as per usual.

A door creaked open down the hall. Before I even knew what I was doing, I was silently making my way across the room. I opened my door.

Chloe was standing there with her fist raised, poised to knock. Pale and shaking, she grabbed my arms.

"Derek?" Her voice, which my ears have been so attuned to lately, was barely a whisper. "What are you doing up? "

"Nightmare. What's up?"

"Um, well, I had a nightmare too. It was so horrible, and I didn't think I could go back to sleep until I talked about it. You know, with you."

" Come on," I said quietly, trying not to wake Simon, who was still snoring like a freight train. Good old Simon, the perfect cover to whispered conversations with the girl you are having nightmares about.

-Me! She came to see me to comfort her!-

I tried to push that thought, and the feelings that came with it, aside. I was her friend. The leader of our little group of genetically altered supernaturals. I usually had all the answers for her, or tried to anyways. Her coming to me didn't _mean_ anything.

I put my arm around her, and led her down the hallway. She was sobbing now; quietly, and her breath was coming in quick little gasps. I was worried that she would start hyperventilating if I didn't get her calmed down soon.

Still shaking, she let me guide her to the couch in the game room. The clock on the wall said it was a quarter past two in the morning. As I gingerly led her onto the couch, I considered how a couple weeks before, I would have been completely at a loss as to what to do. Now I knew better.

She sat on the couch, arms clenched around her knees. She looked up at me, eyes filled with tears, bottom lip quivering, and all I wanted was to find whatever the nightmare was about and tear it limb from limb. Which would have been hard if this was a ghost nightmare.

I sat down next to her, and she curled into my side.

"It felt so real!" She sobbed. "Oh, God, it was so real. I was so scared, and I knew Derek, I knew that it was going to happen. That he just wanted to- Oh, God." I put my arms around her, and she leaned into me.

"Shhh. It's ok. Was it a ghost?" I asked her. I had a feeling I knew the "He" she was talking about though. "You don't have to talk about this right now if you don't want to, Chloe. If it's too hard, it can wait until tomorrow. I'm not going anywhere."

She looked at me, tears glistening on her eyelashes like diamonds, and gave me a weak, watery smile.

"No, it's ok. I'll feel better if I talk about it, otherwise, I'll just lay awake all night thinking about it, you know?" She paused, took a deep breath. "It was… Liam and Ramon. At first they were chasing me through a trail in the woods. And as I was running, I just knew that they were going to get me. That I wasn't going to get away. And they caught me. Liam said he was going to… going to…" She shuddered hard, her voice giving out at the end. I just held her tighter. She took another deep breath, let it out and took one more. "He told Ramon to grab my arms and then he- Oh God. I heard his zipper… Oh, God," she was crying again. I considered her words. Then froze, considering the implications. What if it wasn't just a dream? What if it was a premonition of some kind? Why did I have the same one?

She looked up at me, a mixture of guilt and shock written on her face.

"Oh, Derek, I'm sorry, I completely forgot! Here I am, going on about my nightmare, when you said you had one too! Did you want to talk about it? I understand if you don't." Her expression was that of complete and total concern. Concern about me. About my feelings, which has been completely unprecedented in my life. At least as far as girls were concerned. I tried not to think about how her hair smelled like lavender. How _right_ she felt in my arms, like she belonged there. How wrong it was for me to be thinking about these things at all.

"I think I had the same dream," I said, the words coming out harsher than I meant them to. She didn't seem to care.

"You did? How? I mean, how do you know?" she asked.

Yeah, how did I know? I mean, just because she and I apparently had a nightmare at the same time, involving the same people and events doesn't mean that we had the same dream. So I told her what I remembered from my dream. By the time I had gotten to the part where she was tackled, she clearly believed me. I skipped the rest and told her that I woke up when she screamed at the end.

"That's when I woke up too. That's so weird, that we had the same dream and all. What do you think it means, Derek?" She had calmed down now, curiosity temporarily outweighing fear.

She hadn't pulled away from me like I had expected her too. She just seemed perfectly content resting her head in the crook of my shoulder, and she was absentmindedly rubbing circles on my hand with her thumb. Not that I was complaining or anything. It was nice knowing that she trusted me. That I made her feel safe. Considering that she had let out a small scream the first time she saw me, we had come a very long way in a few short weeks. I had to remind myself that we were friends. Just friends. Nothing more. We wouldn't ever be anything more. She liked Simon, my brother, and he obviously liked her too.

I didn't just like her. I lo-

Pushing that thought away now.

"Derek?" I realized that I had been staring at her, and hadn't answered her question.

"Sorry. Um, I was just, well, I don't know what it means. Maybe we should ask Andrew in the morning. I can ask him if you want, that way you don't have to go have to go through it again. And if he doesn't know what it means, then we will find out someone who does."

"Ok. Thanks, Derek. I'm sorry that I keep waking you up for stupid things like this. It seems like every time you might actually get a good night's sleep, I'm knocking on your door with some mini-crisis," She smiled up at me, but it reached her eyes this time. Her eyelashes were still dark from the crying, and her bottom lip was still trembling. I could feel the steady rise and fall of her chest, which made me think about how various parts of her body were pressed against me. Rising. And falling.

This time I shuddered.

"It's ok, Chloe. I told you before, get me anytime. But maybe we should go back up now, try to get some sleep. Andrew says we have a big day ahead of us, and-"

"Uh-huh," she murmured. She put her head back on my shoulder, apparently deciding she was fine where she was, thank you.

"Can we just stay right here, for a little while please? I don't want to be alone right now, and I'm so sleepy," She yawned the last part. A couple minutes later, she was asleep. I listened to her deep and even breathing, and the sound lulled me to sleep too.

**This is my first fanfic, and I had to submit without a beta, so sorry if it's a little rough. Please review! That way, I know if I should write more. Oh, and if anyone is interested in being my beta reader, please send me a message! Thanks! **


	2. Chapter 2

Hi! Hope everyone likes the story so far! It's been really fun writing it! I don't know how often I will update though, because I'm kind of lazy, and it takes some serious motivation for me to sit down and write. This chapter is from Simon's point of view.

I woke up to the sound of knocking at my bedroom door. I sat up and looked over at Derek's bed. It was empty, but unmade. Which was odd, because he normally wouldn't even got to the bathroom before at least pulling up the sheets.

The knocking continued.

"Hold on, I'm coming," I called.

I threw on the pants that were sitting rumpled on the chair, and headed into the opened the door, to see Tori standing in the hallway.

"Took you long enough! I've been knocking forever! Have you seen Chloe?"

"No, I haven't. I was asleep until you started knocking," I replied, already turning away from her to flop back down on my bed again.

"Well, she left our room last night really upset. I was just wondering if you knew anything about it. Sorry to bother you." With that, left. A few seconds later, I heard her clomping down the steps.

Half an hour later, I was showered and dressed. After quickly checking my blood sugar, I headed down for breakfast.

As I was going down the stairs, I bumped into Tori. I stole a glance at her face, expecting a glare, but instead, she avoided my eyes, muttered a quick apology, and hurried past me up the rest of the steps.

"Huh." As always, I was still not quite used to the New and Improved Tori. Although I try very hard not to be prejudiced against different races, it was still very hard for me, as a sorcerer, to accept that a witch could be an ally, let alone a friend.

I knew Chloe thought less of me for not trying to get along more with Tori, but really it _wasn't_ my fault. Most sorcerers didn't get along with witches and vice versa. It was like racial memory. Ever since the Inquisition, witches and sorcerers have pretty much been enemies. And no, it's not because witches are female and sorcerers are male. Well, I don't think it was. Witches had shared their spells with the sorcerers over five hundred year ago. And how did we thank them? By handing the witches over to the Inquisitors as soon as the heat was on us. Our respective races have been fighting each other ever since.

My father, being a very forward thinking man, tried to raise me to ignore the instinctive loathing I felt for any witch I met. Oh, that's another thing. We are supposed to recognize each other on sight, which really would explain why I couldn't stand Tori right from the start. I tried. I really did. I am a very easy-going guy. I always have been. With the exception of a few people, (racist rednecks anyone?) I have usually been able to get along with just about anybody.

I was glad that she had stopped throwing herself at me. It was getting humiliating to watch. I really had hated it when she took my rejections out on the other girls. It was too bad really, because she would have been really hot if she wasn't such a bitch.

As I was walking past the game room, Chloe walked out and stopped short of running into me. She was still in her pajamas, and her hair was very messy, but in that I-just-rolled-out-of-bed way. She had dark circles under her eyes, and was yawning, but she looked… happy. She darted a glance back in the game room, and moved to go by me.

"Tori was looking for you," I told her. "She actually looked concerned. She said you left in the middle of the night; that you were upset about something."

"Yeah, I had a bad dream. I ended up falling asleep on the couch," She replied.

"Oh, you should have gotten me, I would have hung out with you," I started, but a movement in the game room caught my eye. I looked passed Chloe, and coming up behind her was Derek. He looked even more rumpled than she did. On her, the bed-head look was cute. My brother was not so lucky. At least I thought that, until I realized where he was standing. And what that meant. Chloe looked from me to Derek, then back to me again.

"Oh, well, I had better go find Tori and talk to her. I don't want her to think I was bailing on her or anything. She's been having a really hard time of it lately, and I don't need to cause her anymore stress." Both Derek and I stared at Chloe our looks, she rolled her eyes and told us to shut up. Sparing a quick grin for Derek, she turned and ran up the stairs.

I turned to Derek. "So, anything you'd like to let me in on?" I asked cheerfully.

"There's nothing to tell, Simon. She had a nightmare. I was already awake for the same reason, so she saw no reason to wake anyone else up. She just needed someone to talk to; I was the most convenient choice. It's not a big deal," He said matter-of-factly. It was such big deal. The way he was kept sneaking peeks up the stairs told me how much of a big deal it was.

"Ok. Well, that's good. I was thinking of asking Chloe to go see a movie with me tonight. You don't mind do you?" I asked him.

"Why would I mind?" He asked me coldly.

"Oh, I don't know. Gosh, I'm starving. I'm going to get some breakfast!" I bounded into the kitchen, and grabbed a slice of toast off the table.

Well, well, well. It had finally happened. I couldn't believe that I had missed all the signs, which in retrospect were so obvious that even Tori had been saying it all along.

My brother was in love.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to everyone who let a review, and stuck around to see what I wrote after chapter one, it really means a lot to me that people actually like this. Oh, and to be on the safe side, here's my disclaimer: I am NOT Kelley Armstrong, because if I was these stories would be better, and on her actual website . **

I bolted up the stairs, cheeks flaming, but silently thanking Tori for her very timely summons. I paused at the stop of the stairs, and after hearing Simon and Derek move torward the kitchen, I entered the room I shared with Tori. She was sitting on her bed, grinning at me. I thought about what my life had turned into, how much it had changed. It had only been three short weeks since we arrived here, but a great deal had happened.

Sometime between escaping the Edison Group and arriving here, Tori and I had become friends. Derek and I had become… well, I wasn't sure about that yet. Simon had become like a brother to me, but I don't think he quite saw me the same way.

Simon and I had been out shopping for art supplies for the Non-Comic that we had started on the bus after leaving Buffalo. As we were sitting on a park bench, looking over our work, Simon had leaned over and abruptly kissed me.

My face had flushed immediately, and I felt that warm buzz running through my body, but something was missing. My heart wasn't pounding. My stomach wasn't jumping. When Simon's lips gently touched mine, Derek's face popped in my head. And then I knew. Simon wasn't the one for me. Tori was the one who had pointed it out to me. I was in love with Derek. Totally, completely, head-over-heals in love with him. I felt like an idiot. I should have known. It was so obvious. My life completely followed a story that has been told again and again, even before the Romantic Comedy. Like a well-scripted romance, my life followed the same pattern:

1. Boy meets girl.

2. Girl and Boy do not get along at all.

Boy then saves Girl from some sort of danger, and Girl starts looking at Boy in a whole new light, thus leading to a great and everlasting romance.

Obviously, in the movies, there is much more to it than that, but really, I of all people should have seen the signs. At least, I should have recognized my own feelings sooner, because then I wouldn't have led Simon on like I did.

I still hadn't been able to tell him the truth. Granted, he hadn't kissed me again after that, Derek had conveniently showed up about five seconds after. We hadn't been alone since. If Derek wasn't popping in the room, Tori or Andrew were. Not to mention all the other supernaturals seeking sanctuary with us. There were about twenty of us all together, ranging from the very young (a baby) to the very old (the baby's great-grandmother). We were the only teens.

It was an old house in an old part of the country. I'm not even talking about the last few centuries, either. Apparently, this whole area has been sacred since the beginning of time. There were a great deal of ghosts there. Luckily, I got the only bedroom without a ghost. They moved around a great deal, but my room had belonged to a necromancer who had done anti-spook spells.

There were also those spots where very emotional events had taken place, taking place over and over again. Andrew called them imprints. I saw them all over the place.

A girl taking a bucket of feed to the barn, then the horse rearing and killing her instantly. Her father rushing out, and even though I can never hear it, seeing his wail of grief still still sends shivers down my spine.

Two boys playing by the river, one falling in and drowning. The other boy standing on the bank, frozen in fear.

A different girl and a boy about my age, running hand in hand through the meadow. Smiling. Laughing. And when she tumbled, he caught her, and gently lay down with her. They would kiss and clothes would start getting removed, which was when I (usually) turned away. Yes, it was cheesy. Yes, it was clichéd. It was also comforting, knowing that happy memories leave an imprint too.

Tori was sitting on her bed when I walked in our room, painting her nails. Before I could say anything, she hopped up and shut the door. The radio on our dresser was quietly playing, almost to low to hear. Tori turned it up, loud enough so I had to go over to her to hear what she was saying.

"I need to talk to you about the Derek situation. Do you think he can hear us?" She yelled loud enough to make my ears ring.

"He's downstairs, so we don't have to have this so loud," I replied, and turned the music down. I still left it at a loud volume, but low enough for a conversation I might want to keep below 80 decibles. I was anticipating her next question.

"So spill. What the hell happened last night? Simon was asking about you, and I tried to stall him after waking you up in the game room, but I don't think I did that great of a job," She said all this in one breath, eagerly awaiting my response.

We had come along way. Most of the time, Tori was actually… well if not nice per se, at least, I could see that she was trying to be nice. Which was a big step for her. She tried. She really did. She just couldn't stop from telling people what she really felt. All the time. Whether they wanted to hear it or not.

"No, you did the right thing. It's not like I had anything to hide. Nothing happened. I just, cried on him for half the night, which as you know, is really attractive to guys." I ended the last part half-screaming into my pillow. "It's so freaking frustrating, Tori. He seriously runs hot and cold. Like last night, we had this nightmare," I gave her summary of the nightmare I shared with him. Even the parts that made me want to shudder.

"So, you're telling me that you had him all to yourself on that couch and instead of telling him how you feel, you just, cried on him? Chloe! We have talked about this! You have to take action! Tell him how you feel!"

"It's not that simple!" I said, exasperation in my voice. "I can't just go up to him and be like, 'Hi Derek. How's it going? Oh, by the way, I am totally in love with you. Yeah, I want to marry you and have your babies. I know that made be weird with the whole you being a werewolf, and me seeing dead people and all, not to mention the price over my head and the fact that we have the Edison Group to still contend with. Let's make out!" I rolled my eyes at her. She threw her pillow at me, laughing. Then a floorboard creaked outside our otherwise silent room. Apparently the CD had ended, and we hadn't even noticed.

I crept silently to the door and swung it open, praying to whatever god was in charge of these things that Derek wasn't standing on the other side. I quickly swung it open, and there stood…

Simon. A very unhappy Simon. I thought about the last thing I had said to Tori, and my face heated up.

"Hu-how l-long," I stuttered, then started again. "How long have you been listening, Simon?" I asked him bluntly.

"Long enough." He turned and walked down to his room, slamming the door.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry it's taken me so long to update these last two chapters. Turns out that children are not so conductive to the creative process. Thanks to anyone who left a review. You guys are the reason I've been working my butt of trying to get these chapters up. Thanks for keeping me motivated! I promise I have more coming soon. I'm just trying to polish it up a bit before I post it, and I'm really sorry about the second cliffy ending. It just happened that way. Damn Derek for his "bad" timing. Has anyone else noticed that whenever Simon verbally tries to make a move on Chloe, (in the actual books) Derek just pops up? Could just be wishful thinking on my part. Hmm.**

I stared Tori in shock. She motioned me to follow Simon.

"I'll go talk to Derek, keep him away from here for awhile." Tori whispered, in case Derek was nearby.

"Why?" I asked, confused. I didn't know why she wanted to distract Derek. I didn't see the point in talking to Simon. He was really mad at me, and I couldn't blame him.

"Chloe, you need to talk to Simon. Get it all out there. Now. Before he talks to Derek. Go!" She gently pushed me out the door. Seeing my hesitation, she steered me down the hallway and knocked on Simon's door. When Simon opened the door, Tori pushed me into the room and cheerfully exclaimed, "I'm sure you two have a lot to talk about! So, I'll just leave you to it then! Bye!" She shut the door and I heard her mutter a few words. When I checked the doorknob, it was locked. Of course. She told me last night she was really good at the locking/unlocking spells.

I turned around slowly. Simon was standing by his desk. His arms were crossed and his face was carefully blank.

"Tori's right. We have to talk," I said. He sighed and looked away.

"So, talk." He wasn't going to make this easy. Tears filled my eyes, and I tried to brush them away. Even if he wasn't the one I loved, I still cared for him and didn't want to lose him as a friend.

"Listen, I'm really sorry if I led you on-"

"_If_ you led me on?" he interrupted me angrily. He took a deep breath, and shook his head. "How long have you had feelings for my brother?" he asked in a different tone.

"Um, I just figured it out last week," I blushed. Even though he had heard me declare (albeit rather sarcastically) my feelings for Derek, I still felt stupid admitting it.

"When I kissed you?"

"Um. Yes." No point in denying it.

"Great. That's just great. First girl I really like in a long time, and she has the hots for my brother, but only figures it out _after_ kissing me," he said bitterly. I burst into tears.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!" I wept. Simon looked around the room in dismay, as though seeking help from an unexpected quarter. When none came, he gingerly put his arm around my shoulder and gently gave me a squeeze.

"Aww, Chloe, it's ok. I'm just giving you a little shit. Trust me, I'll get over it. It's not like you're the first girl to not like me. You're just the first girl to like my brother over me. It's cool. It's about damn time someone besides Dad and me appreciated him."

I stopped crying.

"Really?" I asked, my voice trembling. "You aren't mad at me then?"

"No, I'm not mad at you. I'm really just mad at me. I've been trying to tell myself that you and I had something, even though I knew that you liked Derek."

"Is it that obvious?" I asked, horrified at the thought of _everyone_ knowing how I felt. "Oh, my God. Does HE know?" I was starting to panic now. It was one thing to talk to Tori about telling him. _That_ was never going to happen. It was entirely different if he figured it out by himself, and did nothing about it.

"No, he is completely clueless," Simon was quick to reassure me. "He may be a genius in math and science, but when it comes to girls, he has to fumble along like the rest of us." Simon was grinning at me now, more like his old self. A weight lifted from the chest that I hadn't realized was even there.

"So, you aren't going to tell him are you?" I asked him, pleading with my eyes. I made my bottom lip tremble for good measure, figuring that if it worked on my dad, there was a good chance it would work with Simon too.

Instead of answering me, he went over to the door and thumped it a few times. After waiting a few seconds, he thumped it again. When we heard footsteps approaching, he finally turned to me and said, "No, I'm not going to tell him. You are." With that, the door opened. Just like in any movie, the last person I wanted on the other side of it was of course, standing there.

"Tell him what?" Derek asked.

Sorry its so short!! I'm working on something more right now, so hopefully it won't take long to finish and post!! Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

"Tell him what?" Derek said. I held my breath, not sure how to answer.

"Oh, just that Andrew really needs to find a necro for Chloe." Simon lied smoothly. "With all the ghosts and residual here, it's the ideal place to hone your powers," he said easily. I looked at the doorway that Derek was blocking. I gestured for him to move, and he stood aside so I could pass. Was it my imagination, or was he shooting daggers at Simon? Derek entered the room after I left.

I decided it was a good time to take a walk. I grabbed my coat and shoes from my room, and stopped by the kitchen before I went out the back door. Andrew was drinking a coffee and sitting next to a middle-aged woman at the table. There was a woman standing at the stove. She was silently making tea. I turned to Andrew.

"Andrew? Can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked hesitantly.

"Sure, Chloe. What do you need?" He smiled at me.

I glanced over at the woman at the table, and she murmured and left the room. The woman making tea continued as if she had not heard me.

I sat next to Andrew and told him about Simon's necromancer teacher idea. He said that he had already made a few calls, and expected to hear something about it by the end of the day. I thanked him and started out the back door. As I did, I saw the woman with the tea pour the contents of a small bottle into the tea pot. Andrew followed my gaze and quietly asked, "Chloe, what do you see?" I told him. He frowned.

"Who is she?" I asked him.

"She was a maid her." He answered. "Excuse me, I'm going to make some more calls," he said, and left the room.

I went out the back door, closing it behind me. It was a beautiful day, and I planned to take atvantage of the warm weather. I started walking through the meadow, not really paying attention to where I was going, just alone in my thoughts when someone calling my name pulled me out of my reverie.

"Chloe!" Derek yelled, exasperated. I stopped walking, and motioned for him to catch up with me. He jogged up to me, concern etched on his face.

"What was with you just now? I've been calling you the past five minutes!"

"Sorry. I was thinking." I muttered, looking at the ground. He gently put his hand under my chin, and lifted it up. Our eyes met, and I felt that strange feeling I've been feeling for the past month. The one I had a name for now.

"Hey, is everything alright?" He asked me quietly. "Are you still upset about that dream? You know I would never let that happen." A growl had crept in the last few words, and instead of feeling fear, I felt excitement. For the first time, I thought about all the ways that Derek had acted towards me, and I felt a little spark of hope, that maybe, just maybe, he felt the same way I did. Without realizing it, I was smiling up at him. Then I remembered that he had asked me a question.

"I know that. I'm not upset about that dream anymore." He raised his eyebrows, clearly not believing me. I gave a little laugh. "Derek! I'm fine! I swear! Absolutely nothing is wrong with me right now!" It's amazing how much easier it gets to lie to people after enough practice. "I was actually just taking a little walk. I'm feeling stir-crazy right now. You'd think that after being on the run only a couple weeks ago, I'd want to be holed up inside somewhere, but I just keep feeling all cooped up." I was completely babbling. Great. And now he was glaring at me.

"So, you were just go take a stroll by yourself?" His voice came out harsher than usual, like he was restraining himself from yelling.

"Well, Derek, it's not like I was walking far. Besides, there are so many spells here, that I don't really think we have to worry about it." At his look I quickly added, "I wasn't planning on going past the tree line. Since we're already out here, do you want to come with me?" at his hesitation, I took a chance. "If not, that's ok. I'm sure Simon wouldn't mind if-"

"Let's go." He cut me off, bait taken. We set off, the silence stretching between us but it was comfortable. I let him lead the way, and we made our way to the woods. There was a trail there that I hadn't had the chance to explore, so I started down it. Derek stayed close beside, not saying a word. Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, he spoke.

"So, did Simon ask you yet?" he blurted out. I stopped walking, completely taken off guard. I glanced at him, and he seemed as surprised as I did by his question. He swore, and gave me his imitation of a deer-caught-in-the-headlights.

"Did Simon ask me what?"

"Did Simon ask you… Did he ask you to the movies?" Derek's voice was barely a whisper.

"No."

"Oh. Well, if he does, what are you-" he broke off abruptly, nostrils flaring.

"What do you smell?" I asked, trying to recall if I had dreamed about anything else last night. He could have been smelling another hapless creature that I unintentionally raised. That was what I was hoping for. Anything else would be danger.

"I'm not sure. It's something familiar mixed with something else that's familiar. We should head back to the house. I'll tell Andrew what I smelled, and then we will go from there." He put his hand on the small of my back and led me from the woods. As we were turning around to go back to the house, I heard a rustling in the bushes. And a laugh. It was a laugh that I had heard before, but couldn't place. It was as out of place in this setting as a unicorn would have been at the mall. Disembodied laughs never boded well in the movies. I assumed that was true for real life.

Derek heard it, grabbed my hand, and bolted. We were running as fast as we could, and despite my fear, I couldn't help but appreciate how graceful Derek had become over the past month. Hardly the awkward giant kid he had been when we first me. He was now leaping over tree stumps and bushes with amazing agility. We came to the stone wall that separated the back yard from the field. He didn't even hesitate, he just picked me up and leaped over the four-foot high fence in one fluid motion. When we landed, he put me on my feet, grabbed my hand again and we took off. We didn't stop until we reached the back door to the house. I was out of breath and my heart was pounding. I looked over to Derek. He was glaring out into the field, as though daring it to try something.

"Go into the house, Chloe. Get Andrew." His eyes never left the field. I leaned against the house, gasping for breath. I looked out to the tree line, the spot Derek and I had been, distant, but visible. There was no movement.

I tried to place that laugh I had heard, when I had heard it last. As realization hit, I felt all the blood drain from my face, and started shaking. Then the world went dark.I opened my eyes. Derek's worried face was leaning over me. He was sitting on the ground, cradling me in his lap. For a moment, I couldn't remember how I got there, and I didn't care. I felt safe, and warm, and-

"Chloe? Are you ok? Answer me" He sounded on the verge of panic. I heard other voices in background, and my fuzzy brain struggled to remember what had happened. Then I remembered. The laugh and what it meant. I started shaking. Derek pulled me tighter.

"Chloe! What's wrong? You can't be hurt. I caught you! Please, say something!" He demanded, obviously scared. While the attention was nice, I was getting a little tired of the damsel in distress routine I'd been having around him, so I took a deep breath and tried to stand up.

He wouldn't let me go.

"Derek, I'm fine." I thought about how I had just fainted and my cheeks heated up. He relaxed his grip, eyes searching mine, then he stood up and put me on my feet. I swayed a little, but caught my balance. Before I could say anything to Derek, Simon rushed over to us.

"Are you ok?" he asked me. I nodded. He turned to Derek "What's up?".

"I smelled something out there, something that I know I should remember, but for the life of me, I can't. Then we both heard something coming, so we took off. I still can't place what it was, but I don't think it can be good." He looked down at me. "We need to get Chloe inside," he stated. He didn't even wait for a response, just hustled me in to the house. Once we were inside, we were peppered with questions from everyone in the house. I was already on edge from the whole experience, and I still needed to tell Derek what I knew. I let out a whimper and Derek immediately glared at everyone and declared that I need space so everyone but Andrew needed to get out. Simon and Tori of course stayed, but Derek didn't say anything.

I sat at the table drinking tea that Tori had made me, a special witch's brew she told me. I could feel it working already, calming my nerves and clearing my head. I looked up at Derek who was relaying the story to Andrew and Simon.

"I know what it was." I said quietly. All conversation stopped, all attention on me.

"What was it, Chloe?" Derek asked impatiently. I looked him in the eye and took a deep breath.

"Liam," I whispered. "It was Liam.


	6. Chapter 6

**I don't own the Otherworld or Darkest Powers. Kelley Armstrong does, I'm just playing with her characters!**

**Thanks for all the reviews! I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story! But in the interest of becoming a better writer, does anyone want to be my beta? Let me know please! **

"We have a few options," Andrew stated calmly.

We were sitting at the kitchen table. Chloe was upstairs, taking a bath. Every few seconds I listened to make sure I heard splashing. I wasn't taking any chances after that fainting spell. Combined with the condition I had found her in the morning after my partial Change, I felt I had a reason to worry.

Necromancers, are rare. Before Chloe, I had only run into a few, and that . Dad didn't even know of that many, but one thing did stick out of my mind. They were all Dad's age or younger. That had to mean something. Chloe having deep trances and fainting attacks did not sit well with me.

"- you with me, Derek? Or are you somewhere else?" I realized that Andrew was speaking to me, and dragged my gaze from the ceiling. Andrew was trying to hide a smile behind his coffee mug.

"Sorry," I muttered into my coffee. "So, what are the options?" I asked him.

"Derek, I don't think we can handle this ourselves. You are the only person here with supernatural strength, and our witches only know minor defensive spells. Spells that aren't fool-proof. There are ways past them. And all of our sorcerers are out on that retreat. This is the first time that anyone has been tracked here and to be frank, we just aren't equipped to deal with renegade werewolves." Andrew stated apologetically. I felt a rush of guilt. Andrew and everyone here had taken us in, sheltered us, fed us and clothed us. They bought other things for us to make our stay here more comfortable. They had given us a safe haven, and I had only been there for a couple of weeks, and already the whole thing was falling apart. I had to make it up to them. I had to make it up to Andrew. And I had to find a way for Chloe to feel safe again.

"So what do you think we should do?" I asked, eager to find a solution.

"I think we should contact the Pack. This is their job, actually. They can deal with this much better than we can." Andrew stated.

"That sounds great. Let's do that, then. I'll start packing right away."

"What?"

"I'm on their territory. They have every right to not just kick me out, but to kill me. I really don't need to make anymore enemies right now, Andrew. Find another solution."

The splashing had stopped. I counted to thirty, and just when I was about to ask Tori to check on Chloe, I heard the water draining, and footsteps on the bathroom floor.

I pushed my guilt aside and concentrated on the problem at hand. I could deal with the fall-out later. What was important was making sure Liam never got the chance to hurt Chloe.

"Derek, from what you tell me, he's not really after Chloe. He was just saying that to get a rise out of you, and it is something that clearly works." He eyed me curiously, and glanced around the room. "Is there anyone else within hearing distance?" He asked me.

I listened. I couldn't hear anything coming from the inside of the house. From outside, I could hear the witches' voices, the words indistinguishable from each other. "No." I replied when I was sure it was safe. Andrew started fidgeting with his coffee and cleared his throat. It was clear that he was very uncomfortable.

"Derek, did your father ever talk to you about… Well, you know. Sex." He asked me awkwardly. This time, I was the one taken aback.

"What?" I sputtered, genuinely horrified. I glanced out the window, hoping against hope that something would come crashing through that door to rescue me from this conversation. Liam. A tornado. A giant army of flesh-eating zombies. Anything at all would have been welcome at this point.

"I get the impression that there is more going on with you and Chloe than just friendship. I also noticed that Simon has his eye on her too, which much be upsetting."

"You want to talk to me about my _feelings_?" I sputtered, genuinely horrified. I glanced out the window, hoping against hope that something would come crashing through that door to rescue me from this conversation. Liam. A tornado. An army of flesh-eating killer zombies. Anything would do. I wasn't picky.

"You're young, Derek. And she's the first girl to ever really pay attention to you." he smiled and shook his head. "I know that this must be a very confusing time for you right now, but it's important that you keep your head, especially when it comes to … girls."

_Please stop. Oh, God. Can this get any worse?_

"Sorry if you feel I'm overstepping right now, but with your father being... gone, well, he'd want me to have this talk with you. " With that, he got up and put his mug in the sink. "She's also going through a very confusing time, and at her age, she can't really know what she wants. Until recently, she had a very different future planned, and someday, she might want to go back to that future. She might want to leave all of this behind her. You have a future to get back to also. If what Simon tells me is correct, you had at least four Ivy League schools knocking down your door. You might find in a few months, when things get back to normal, that she isn't right for you at all." He turned back to me, smiling. "So! We survived 'The Talk' " He said cheerfully. I breathed a sigh of relief, glad it was over too. "I'll tell you what though, Derek. I'm not looking forward to the talk I have to have with Simon. At least with you, I don't have to worry about you doing something rash or impulsive. You're smart enough to realize that you aren't ready. But Simon... I don't know. And with Chloe on the fence like she is, with all the craziness going around her... " he trailed off, his meaning very clear.

_I had to ask._

I had just had my crush completely called out by the man who happily took the role of "Favorite Uncle" very seriously with Simon and me. It was bad enough he knew about my feelings for Chloe. What really stung though was knowing that he didn't even think I had a shot with her as long as Simon was eyeing her. It was true, but still. It still hurt to know that my "uncle" had such a low opinion of me. I knew I couldn't compete with Simon in the Girl-Magnet department. But I didn't need that pointed out to me, especially when it came to Chloe.

I had never really cared when Simon would be going out with some girl and I was home. I didn't feel like I was missing out on something, because I wasn't. None of those girls would have ever been right for me. I wasn't interested in sharing even a small part of my life with anyone outside my family. My pack. I had Dad. I had Simon. I was happy.

I never once begrudged him his need for friends, for girlfriends. I couldn't. I didn't _ever_ have any feelings for a girl. Never thought about them really. They were just… there. Like the desks and the windows. Mostly they ignored me, which was fine by me. The less attention, the better. When a girl did approach me, it was almost always a not-so-clever-ruse to find out more things about Simon. No, I wasn't jealous. I wasn't envious. No girl had ever given me a reason to feel jealous.

Until Chloe, that is.

I


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks to anyone who has read and/or reviewed. Escpecially the reviewers. You guys are so nice, and one of the reasons I keep writing this story is because you have asked me to. So, thanks. Oh, and I have found a beta, so thanks to anyone who offered to be my beta. I sent this out without using my beta, so sorry if it's sloppy. I just wanted to get it out there because I really hate leaving people hanging. Thanks again! Please enjoy!!! **

**Oh, I also wanted to say that I am only planning on one more chapter of this, but I will continue it in another story. I have the first chapter for that already written, so I will be uploading them back-to-back. No waiting for the sequal!! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Chloe, Derek (sigh!), Simon, Darkest Powers, ect. Kelley Armstrong does. **

I ambled around the house aimlessly, at a loss for what to do next. My life had gone beyond the point of just falling apart. I didn't even know where to start to go about fixing anything.

I missed my dad. My whole life, ever since I could remember, he had been there for me. I could go to him with any problem, and he would help me find a solution. Always. And of course, now that I needed him more than ever, he was gone. And it was all my fault.

I thought about what Dad would have told me if he had been there.

"Get organized. Write it all down, that way you can get your thoughts straight." Pretty much no matter what the disaster, it could be anything from a last-minute book report or an invading alien army, and he would have told me to write a list. So, I found some paper and a pen, and sat down the stairs, using the wall as an impromptu desk.

How My Life Is F-ed Up

I am a werewolf.

I have feelings for a girl who happens to be a necromancer.

My brother likes her too.

I think she likes him back.

My dad's former best friend thinks I'm a pathetic, delusional loser.

He also called the Pack on me, who are known to kill any were wolf who dares enter their territory, which happens to be the state that I live in. Oops.

They are on their way here, to deal with problem number eight.

Liam and possibly his buddy Ramon have been heard around the "safe" house.

We are in the "safe" house to hide out for the Edison Group, because the want to either experiment on me or kill me, not quite sure which.

I'm going through partial Changes, a good two years before I should be.

My Dad was gone, presumably kidnapped.

I read what I had written. I couldn't decide if the Chloe, Liam or Pack thing was the worst. They were all the most immediate problems right now, and only two of them were actually life-threatening.

Being in love with Chloe, and knowing that nothing could or would ever happen was the hardest to deal with. I thought I had hid my feelings for her very well, considering that we were living in the same house. I even had Simon fooled. Or so I thought. I hadn't seen Andrew for two years. Long enough for me to change so much physically that he didn't recognize me when he found us. He still managed to recognize and call me out on my non-relationship with Chloe.

"Derek?"

I jumped, startled out of my reverie. I looked down to see Chloe standing there, a small smile on her face, probably because she got to spook me for a change.

"Yes. You startled me. Now, what do you want?" I snapped. I was such an asshole to her. It was a miracle she would even speak to me, when I thought about it.

She just rolled her eyes and told me that Simon was looking for me.

"Where is he?"

"He's on his way here. Um, I was wondering if I could talk to you about something," she asked me, staring at the floor.

"Is this about Liam, Chloe? Don't worry about it. Andrew's taking care of it." The last thing I needed was for Chloe to lose it again about Liam. Last night had been hard enough. I much as I had liked feeling needed, it still bothered me to see Chloe shaken so badly. She was usually much stronger than that. She was good at holding it together when things went south.

"No, that's not-" She broke off, chewing her lip. "So, how is Andrew taking care of it?"

"He said he's calling in the Pack. Apparently, it's their job to deal with stuff like this," I muttered. Now I was the one finding the flooring fascinating. I was trying to play it cool, like the prospect of the Pack coming here didn't absolutely terrify me. It did, and she didn't buy it.

"Wait, The Pack? Like the one that Liam and Ramon were talking about? Because Derek, you're still in New York. We're on their territory, right? What are you going to do?" The panic was creeping into her voice.

I finally looked up when her breath hitched.

"Do?" I asked.

" Yes, do. Derek, this isn't good at all, I've been talking to some of the older supernaturals here, and apparently, the Pack has quite a name for itself, even among the non-werewolves. The Pack's enforcer is apparently psychotic. He really does kill any werewolf who come into their territory. We have to figure out what to do!" Her eyes were filled with fear. Fear for me. Despite the fact that I was freaking out about all the people who wanted me dead, I started to feel warm all over. Not hot like when I almost Changed, just… warm.

We stayed like that for a full minute, just staring at each other. She took a step towards me.

"Derek," she whispered. " I need to… to tell you something. Can we- " We both could hear someone walking down the steps, and instinctively backed up from each other. A second later, Simon appeared in the hallway with us. Stupid karma.

"Hey! What are you guys doing in the hallway?" He looked from me to Chloe, and when neither of us said anything he then asked, "What's going on?"

"Andrew called for the Pack to come here," Chloe stated before I could say anything else.

"What?" He was outraged. "Hold, on. Don't answer that. Let's go to the game room." We filed in, then Chloe chose to sit in the recliner. I took the couch, while Simon started pacing.

"What's this about the Pack? And whose brilliant idea was it?"

"Andrew's" Chloe and I replied.

"Well, what the hell is he thinking? Is he high?" Simon spat out angrily. "To call the Pack here, where you are, well, if you stay it's suicidal. You know what Dad always said, Derek." Simon was going to say more, but the phone rang. I heard Andrew answer it in the other room. He got up and went out the kitchen door, murmuring in the phone too low for me to hear. After only a few seconds, he came back in the house and hung the phone back up on it's receiver. He started walked down the hallway, passing us in the game room.

"Simon! Derek!" he called up the stairs.

"In here!" Simon answered. We looked at each other, wondering what the phone call was about. Andrew stepped into the room.

"Oh, good, Chloe's here too. This concerns you too, and you need to hear it." He glanced around the room as though looking for something, and sat down in the other recliner. "I just got off the phone with the spokeswoman for the Pack. She was calling from her cell phone, and told me they are on their way here. They said they already have this Liam's scent because they had to deal with him a couple of weeks ago. Apparently he had received a warning, and they had let him go."

"W-w-what about the other one, Ramon?" Chloe asked.

"Oh, you know, I forgot to ask them about him. But don't worry, we'll make sure they know about him. Like I told Derek, this is really their job. They don't like non-Pack werewolves on their territory, so they take care of these problems quickly and discreetly. They have gotten very good at it over the years." He reassured us. Simon and I exchanged a look, and Chloe's breathing hitched. I know we were all thinking the same thing.

"What about Derek? _He's_ a werewolf, in case you have forgotten." Simon asked angrily.

"Oh, not to worry. They don't know he's coming. They said they should have no reason to come to the house, but if they do, I made sure to tell them to call first. We can hide Derek easy downstairs," he said brightly, like it wasn't my life we were talking about, but an overgrown game of hide-and-seek. The thing about werewolves, is that when we play hide-and-seek, we find. "Now, who's up for pizza?"

Simon opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off.

"I could go for one," I said. I caught Simon's eye and mouthed, "Later." He didn't look happy about it, but he nodded at me. After a few minutes of discussing dinner with Andrew, Chloe made her excuses and left the room. Andrew promised to give us an update as soon as he heard anything then left to order the pizza.

"So, what are you going to do?" Simon asked me as soon as Andrew was out of earshot. "I don't think that they are just going to be ok with you being here if they show up."

"I don't think we have to worry about it," I reassured him. Then to change the subject, I blurted out, "Simon, I need you to back off Chloe." That got his attention.

"What?" He asked, all thoughts about the Pack abandoned.

"You heard me. I have never once asked you for a favor like this, but it's really important to me. As my brother, I am asking you to please back off on Chloe." I paused, and stole a glance at his face, worried that his silence was an indicator that he was going to blow up.

He was smiling.


	8. Chapter 8

Derek stared at me, completely bewildered. I guess I couldn't blame him; I was beaming at him like an idiot. I was just… happy for him, I guess. Yeah, sure, I liked Chloe and all, but he loved her. That much was obvious. Why else would he have asked me to back off? He's never done that over a girl before. He's never really even looked at a girl before, let alone love her.

He was still staring at me, confusion turning into suspicion. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, speechless.

Seeing Derek driven speechless was one for the books. And honestly, this was fun. I liked watching him squirm. He always was so… together. Always so above trivial things like girls. It was gratifying knowing that he was human like the rest of us. Sort of.

"So, you want me to back off from Chloe? Does that mean you _like_ her? Or you just don't want me to have her?" I asked as innocently as I could manage, while still grinning like the Cheshire Cat. I couldn't help it; this was too much fun!

A low growl escaped from his throat before he could stop it. His eyes blazed and I was rewarded with one of his trademark 'Derek-glares'. It didn't work on me, of course. They never worked on me like everyone else because unlike everyone else, _I _knew he would never hurt me. The pain behind the glare is what made me take pity on him.

"Derek, chill. I'm just having some fun with you. There isn't anything going on with Chloe and me," I hurried to reassure him. The anger slowly melted from his eyes, changing to disbelief.

"Right. That's why you were going to ask her to the movies?" Derek retorted. I rolled my eyes.

"Derek, I had no plans on taking her to the movies, or anyplace date-related at all. At least, not after I realized that my big brother has finally taken the plunge and fallen in love."

Derek immediately started denying it, but when he saw my expression, he gave in.

"Yes, fine. I'm in love with her. Happy?" He spat out. "Fat lot of good it will do me, too—she doesn't even see me that way! How could she? And how could I let this happen? I'm all wrong for her," he said bitterly.

I rolled my eyes, sighing. Then I smacked him upside his stubborn head.

"Derek, she's perfect for you. _Perfect_. Everything that you could look for in a girl, she has in spades. She's not afraid of you, and she doesn't take your crap. I don't know if you've noticed, but she also looks to you for answers when she doesn't know them. Not me. _You_. And yeah, I guess that could be chalked up to you giving the answers whether she asks for them or not, but something tells me there's more to it than that."

"Oh, yeah. What makes you think that?" he asked with sarcasm dripping from his voice. This 'pity party' of his was starting to piss me off, which is the only reason for what I said next.

"Well, it could be the way she acts around you now, all fluttery and, well, girly. Or it could be the way she FREAKING TOLD ME THIS MORNING! Remember, when I was talking to her in our room? She flat out told me that she doesn't want me, she wants you. Period. End of story."

He was staring at me. No, not at me, _behind_ me. Someone was standing behind me. I turned around, already knowing who it was, and hoping I was wrong.

Chloe.

Oops.

**Ok, so I know that I said this would be the last chapter, but I lied. And I know that it's really short. I just _had_ to tell this from Simon's point of view, well, because he's funny. But the NEXT chapter will be the last. I think. Thanks for all the reviews!!!**


	9. Chapter 9

I was in my room, trying to not think about Liam. Of course, I wasn't getting very far in not thinking about him, so I decided to replay the whole incident in my mind, and pretend I was directing a movie.

I got to the part in today's mini-horror film featuring the villain's evil laugh. Liam was close enough by then for _me_ to hear him, not just Derek. I didn't think about it then, but I could smell him too. The rotting stink of a dead corpse is very distinctive. Part of me knew the whole time, but everything had happened so fast. Derek's reaction came so quickly that my brain hadn't registered what my powers were telling me.

Liam was dead. That's why I had that dream. It wasn't just a nightmare- it was a warning. Maybe he could send dreams as a ghost or something. Or, maybe my dreams stem from the powers.

But now he wasn't a ghost, he was a zombie. My zombie, because I was the one who raised him.

I knew I should have felt horrified by the thought of trapping even a complete monster like Liam in his dead body, but I didn't.

Sadly, I was more horrified by the thought that I had fainted in front of Derek.

That was IT. I had had it. I was done playing his damsel-in-distress all the time. I was done feeling afraid. I had to do something, and I had to do it NOW.

I called Liz.

When she appeared, I asked her if she had seen Liam around anywhere.

"Well, that's the strange part. There's been talk of a new werewolf ghost, but he disappeared last night. No one has seen him since. They say the Pack got him. That they found him a week ago. He wasn't far from here, one of the Pack members just tore him to pieces. But his friend got away. I've been trying to find him for you, but I think he's too far away. I can always find you, mainly cause you have this glow, but trying to track down paranoid werewolves? Not so easy."

"Hold on a second. You mean the Pack killed him? Then why are they on their way here if he's supposed to be dead?" I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something else was wrong now.

"Well, I guess the people I talked to about it could have been wrong," Liz ventured. "But we aren't usually wrong about these things. See we can-" She cut off, flickering out of my vision like a broken holograph. Then she popped back, still speaking, "so that's how I know he's dead." She stopped when she noticed my expression.

"Y-y-you just cut out."

"Oh, yeah. I guess there's like these rules or something. I have this ghost teacher person who is supposed to be showing me the ropes. She told me that there are some things that we ghosts can't talk about with necromancers. Usually things directly relating to the afterlife." She explained.

"Ghost teacher?"

"Oh, well. Um, let me think how I should phrase this so I don't cut out…" She considered for a few seconds. "Ok! You can think of me as your very own personal Spirit Guide!" She sounded like my camp director from the summer camp Dad sent me to every summer until I was 13. Cheerful, perky, and over-caffeinated. "And pretty soon you'll be getting a teacher too!"

"I am? How do you know that?"

"I just do. I can't say anymore because-" she cut out again. "-but you'll be meeting her really soon! I can hardly wait! You are going to get a kick out of who her boyfriend is!" Liz declared, beaming at me. She was so excited that she was bouncing on the balls of her feet. Then she must have remembered something because the smile slid from her face and she glanced at me, chewing her lip nervously.

"Well, I did overhear that Andrew guy talking on the phone a few minutes ago. And I was standing close enough to him to hear what the other people were saying. I recognized the voice," she said earnestly.

"It was one of the Pack members, right? He already told us who had called. He said they were going to take care of Liam, and that we shouldn't worry about them stopping by. I guess he didn't tell them about Derek being a werewolf. "

"That's what I'm trying to tell you, Chloe. They know about Derek. They're coming to get him sometime tomorrow."

I swear my heart stopped. "T-t-to g-g-get h-h-him?" I took a deep breath, and slowly let it out. Tried to get past the sheer panic and focus on what I needed to know to keep Derek safe. "Did they say why?" I asked calmly.

"Oh, some crap about making sure Derek is around his own kind when he first Changes. I don't know, Chloe. Something seems wrong here. I know for a fact that he was talking to the Pack. But I don't understand why Andrew would tell you something different." Liz's brow furrowed. "You know, I have a bad feeling about this Andrew guy. I think you should grab the others and bail."

I agreed and started packing. The sooner we left the better. The Pack had said they would be here tomorrow, but that might not have been true either. It was getting harder and harder to trust people. I couldn't even work up a proper rage at Andrew's possible betrayal. I wasn't even surprised. All the adults that I had come across in the past month had let me down, one way or the other. I wondered how Derek was going to take it, and my heart ached for him. I prayed that there was a reasonable explanation, anything to explain why he would betray Derek, his honorary nephew. Because Derek had been let down even more by the adults, and it was only a matter of time before he even started doubting his father.

"What are you doing?" Tori asked, bringing me out of my thoughts. By then, I had my bag packed. I gave her an update on Andrew, making sure she knew that Liz was in the room with us, so all three of us could make the plans together.

Liz was one of the reasons why Tori and I had become friends. We had all sat down together the second night here and figured out a way to include Tori in conversations. Tori was much happier being able to talk to Liz, and Liz acted as referee if things got too intense for us.

I left my bag by the open window for Liz to stash outside when Tori would be distracting Andrew and any adults that might notice us leaving. Or notice flying backpacks. Being the Queen of Drama, Tori was even better at distractions than Simon.

"I've got to warn Derek," I said. As we headed down the steps, I told them my theory on Liam being a zombie. A zombie that I called.

"So, you can control him then, right?" At my nod, Tori continued, "Then there's nothing you have to worry about there, I mean, with zombies, it's simple. They follow your commands. So, even if you can't release his spirit, you can still command him not to hurt you. Or Derek. Heck, you could probably get him to hop into a fire if you wanted to," she said mischievously. Seeing the glint in her eyes, I hoped she was kidding.

"Do you think you could get Derek's stuff packed up for me? I think that we should be prepared that he might want to bolt when I tell him what's going on." I asked Liz.

"Sure. That's a good idea. Where do you want me to leave your bags?" She took off, and Tori and I continued talking. As we made plans, I made my way to the game room. I was distantly aware that Simon and Derek were talking about something, but I was too busy listening to what Tori was saying to figure out what was being said.

All of a sudden, there was complete silence from everybody. I must have stumbled across Derek and Simon having an argument, because they both looked pretty upset. I gave them a few seconds to recover, but they continued staring at me. Simon in horror, and Derek in… Shock? Like always, I couldn't really tell, because the emotion flickered for a second and then was gone.

I ignored the tension between them, deciding I didn't really want to know what it was about. I turned to Derek.

"We need to talk. Now. Liz just-" I broke off, realizing how loud my voice was in the otherwise silent house, and not wanting to be overheard, I motioned for them to meet me outside. For once, they didn't ask questions, just went out. Tori said she'd go help Liz, so I followed the guys alone.

When we were a decent distance from the house, I told them what Liz had told me. As I expected, Derek wanted to leave.

"Liz has our bags packed and-" I started.

"You aren't coming," he said, abruptly cutting me off. "You're safer here than out there. Between your dad's reward, the Edison Group, and now Liam, there's no way you are-"

"Liam's a zombie," I blurted out. That shut him up. He blinked at me a few times. Then, he shook his head and asked me to explain.

So I did, and when I was finished, he looked at me skeptically, like I was making it up so I didn't get left behind.

"Derek, it's part of the whole necromancer package. And since I can control Liam, I'm in no danger from him. All we have to do is find a quiet spot so I can release his spirit. End of Liam problem. Liz told me I should get out of here. In every ghost movie I have ever seen, anytime a ghost tells you to leave a house, you listen. The people who don't usually end up with their head cut off in fireplaces or impaled on the spiked garden fence." I said all this lightly, but Derek didn't take it that way.

Derek looked around the vast garden we were standing in, and sure enough there was the metal fence. He sighed, rolled his eyes. I knew that I had won this argument, probably because with my history, Derek wasn't taking any chances.

"Fine. Whatever. But I'm in charge. No going off and getting in trouble so I have to rescue you again. And as soon as we are far enough away, we are finding a place to plan." When I didn't say anything, he added, "I mean it Chloe."

Hearing him say those words was oddly comforting.

" Ok."

I told him to wait where he was, then I went to the spot Liz and I had agreed on for our bags. I brought them back to Derek, and after shouldering mine I said, "Let's go."

Simon wanted to know where his was. I told him Tori's plan. After about two minutes of arguing, Simon finally agreed to stay with Tori, but only if they could catch up with us later, which was a given. Tori knew to come after us in a couple of days, to avoid alerting Andrew of our distrust of him.

We all said our goodbyes, and then Derek and I took off.

After a few minutes, we discussed our next move. Liz had told me how to get to the nearest bus-depot, and that it was only a two-mile walk from where we were.

When we got there, it turned out to be a gas station with a little convenience store attached, so Derek got food, while I got bus tickets to the next bus out of town. It was going to Vermont, and leaving in twenty minutes. I bought a map, and picked up one of the Vermont travel brochures.

When we got on the bus, we spread out the map and the brochure and decided to find a cabin in a small little resort that advertised it's off-season rates at affordable weekly prices. Once Simon and Tori met up with us, we'd easily be able to afford to stay there for at least a month, until the summer season started.

Hopefully before then, we'd know what to do.

Because now we were flying blind. Andrew had betrayed us. We had no adults on our side that could help us, and we were still wanted by the Edison Group. We were exactly in the same place as two weeks before, but now we were leaving on our own terms.

"Chloe," Derek said. "I have to ask you something."

"Yeah?"

He cleared his throat. Looked out the window, then he looked back at me.

"Are you in love with Simon?"

"What?" I sputtered. "No! Of course not!"

"Good," he replied.

Then he kissed me.

**That's it for now!!!! My first complete fanfic! So, I will be making a sequel for this. I already have part of the first chapter to that written, so if you want more, you won't have to wait long for it. Thank you for everyone who stuck through this to the end, and especially for all the great reviews. You guys are the best, and I will keep doing my best for you.**

**Oh, I am calling the next one ****The Fragile.**** I don't want to put it in the crossovers page, but I think I might have to because I will be introducing The Pack in the first chapter. But it's going to be a Chloe/Derek story, all the way. So as long as people don't complain, I'll try and post it in the Darkest Powers category. **


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